Glittering lances are the loom, See the grisly texture grow! Shafts for shuttles, 5 dipt in gore, Shoot the trembling cords along, Mista, black terrific maid, Ere the ruddy sun be set, Pikes 6 must shiver, javelins sing, (Weave the crimson web of war) Where our friends the conflict share, Where they triumph, where they die. 1 Said to signify in old Gaelic, island of whales. 2 Attached to keep the "strain" or tightness upon the threads. Play -Perform their part. 3 Arrows; A.-S., scafan, to smooth as with a plane. Shuttles-Literally that which shoots; A.-S., sceotan, to shoot. 4 Three of the Valkyrmir. 5 Has affinity with weave. 6 French, pique, a long wooden shaft with a steel head. 7 French, bouclier, a shield with a projecting bockle or bos in the centre. 8 See note 2 to "The Bard," p. 16. Helm, ibid. As the paths of fate we tread, Wading through the ensanguined field, O'er the youthful king2 your shield. We the reins to slaughter give, (Weave the crimson web of war.) They whom once the desert-beach Low the dauntless earl" is laid, Soon a king shall bite the ground.7 Long his loss shall Eirin 8 weep, Horror covers all the heath, Clouds of carnage blot the sun : 1 Two more of the Valkyrmir. 2 "Sigtryg with the silken beard," mentioned in the introductory note. 3 It is ours. The predicative form of the pronoun. 4 Preterite of the verb to pen, in the sense of to coop up. 5 Paraphrase. Shortly those pent up in the bleak domain of the Shetland Isles, shall invade and extend their sway over certain of the fruitful plains of the mainland of Britain. 6 Sigard of the introductory note. 7 The poetic commonplace for death in battle. 8 Erin, the Erse name for Ireland. Hail the task, and hail the hands! Mortal, thou that hear'st the tale, Sisters, hence with spurs of speed: Each her thundering falchion wield; Hurry, hurry to the field. THE VEGTANIS KIVATHA; OR, THE FROM THE NORSE. [THIS is a vigorous and powerful ode; but perhaps a little too polished to be considered a very truthful reflex of the Norse Saga. The translation was made in 1769.] UP rose the King of Men1 with speed, And saddled straight his coal-black steed : 2 That leads to Hela's drear abode. Him the Dog of Darkness 4 spied; His shaggy throat he opened wide, While from his jaws, with carnage filled, Foam and human gore distilled : Hoarse he bays, with hideous din, 1 Odin. 2 Sleipner, a horse with eight legs. 3 The goddess who presided over the nine concentric circles of ice which formed Niflheim, the Scandinavian hell. 4 Managazmar, the Cerberus of the Scandinavian mythology. And long pursues, with fruitless yell, (The groaning earth before him shakes), Right against the eastern gate, The thrilling verse that wakes the dead; 2 Slowly breathed a sullen sound. Prophetess. What call unknown, what charms presume To break the quiet of the tomb? Who thus afflicts my troubled sprite, 3 And drags me from the realms of night? Who is he, with voice unblest, That calls me from the bed of rest? Odin. A traveller, to thee unknown, Is he that calls, a warrior's son. 1 Three and nine have ever been cabalistic numbers in matters of demonology and incantation. Runic, belonging to the runes or Scandinavian letters. A.-S., rûn; Norse, runa, meaning mystery. 2 In the original, vallgaldr, from VALR-mortuus, dead, and galdr— incantatio, a charm. 3 Spirit. 4 A.-S., drencan, soaking, saturating. For whom yon glittering board is spread, Prophetess. Mantling in the goblet see Pain can reach the Sons of Heaven! Leave me, leave me to repose. Odin. Once again my call obey, What dangers Odin's child await, Prophetess. In Hoder's hand the Hero's doom; His brother sends him to the tomb. Now my weary lips I close: Leave me, leave me to repose. Odin. Prophetess, my spell obey, Once again arise, and say, Who the avenger of his guilt, By whom shall Hoder's blood be spilt. Leave me, leave me to repose. 1 Mead (A.-S., meth), a drink prepared from honey, which the warrior shades in the Norse Valhalla, or heaven, are represented as drinking out of the skulls of the foemen they had slain in battle upon earth. 2 Odin's son, who had dreamed of his own impending death. He was slain by Hoder, who afterwards fell by the hand of Vali, the son of Odin and Rhinda, c. 65. |